Support is vital for our Guard and Reserve families - GUEST OPINION

Recently I had the privilege of speaking to the National Research Summit on Reserve Component Families, held at the University of Michigan. This gathering of experts and advocates from around the nation spent two days focused on the citizen soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines of our National Guard and military Reserves and their families.

Special focus on our Reserve component is appropriate because so much of Michigan's contribution to our military comes from our state's National Guard and Reserve units and because of the special challenges that Reserve component families must face.

Because most Reserve component families don't live near major military installations, it's often harder for them to access Defense Department services. That isolation might also form a barrier that prevents Reserve component troops from seeking help for mental or physical health conditions.

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Overcoming those challenges is of tremendous importance because today, the United States cannot go to war without its National Guard and military Reserves. During the Cold War, we planned to call on our Reserve component only in extreme circumstances. Today, we call upon them routinely as part of our military operations around the world.

So we can't do without our Reserve component troops. But as is the case with our active duty troops, we can't recruit, train, deploy and retain skilled troops for our Reserve forces if they, as potential service members, don't feel that they and their families will be properly cared for. So taking care of our troops and families, giving them the support they need to continue serving our nation, is essential to our national security.

But it's even more than that. It's a moral imperative. The men and women who put on our nation's uniform, work so hard, and sacrifice so much for us - we owe them a tremendous debt. If we do not support them and their families, we fail to keep a solemn trust.

But we can't just want to help our troops and their families. We have to learn the best ways to do so and act on them.

It's especially worrisome that suicides, which are an enormous problem across our nation, are taking the lives of far too many of our troops and our veterans. Army Chief of Staff Gen. Ray Odierno recently testified to the Senate Armed Services Committee, which I chair, that the number of suicides in the Army National Guard and Army Reserve is rising.

Another major concern is unemployment among Guard and Reserve members. A good job is essential to any family's quality of life, and yet Army Secretary John McHugh told our committee that in the Army Guard and Reserve, unemployment is at 24 percent. That's a crisis.

We have taken steps in a number of areas to address the needs of our Guard and Reserve families. On the Armed Services Committee, through our annual defense authorization bills, we have given Reserve component families improved access to the military's TRICARE health coverage; we've closed a gap in health coverage for Reserve component retirees who retire before reaching age 60; we've improved access to mental health assessments and suicide prevention programs for Reserve component members; and we have authorized better access to job training for all troops, including Reserve component members.

In last year's bill we authorized the National Guard to provide "Transition Assistance Advisors" in each state to serve as single points of contact for Guard members seeking access to military and Veterans Affairs benefits. And we required the Pentagon to make sure that its medical practices reflect the best available research on the diagnosis and treatment of mental health conditions.

But we can never be satisfied with our efforts on this front. We should always be on the lookout for ways that we can improve the support we give military families.

That's where researchers like those who gathered in Ann Arbor come in. We have questions that they are helping to answer, such as: What are the best ways to combat the stigma that discourages so many troops who may be at risk for suicide or suffering other mental health issues from seeking assistance? What prevents too many Guard and Reserve members from finding good civilian jobs? How can we meet President Obama's goal of ending homelessness among veterans by 2015?

I'm grateful for the hard work these researchers are doing to help us keep the faith with our Guard and Reserves, and I look forward to hearing new ideas about how we can continue making a difference for our troops and their families.

Carl Levin is the senior U.S. senator from Michigan and the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee.